Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA) Chairperson Dr Sohail Munir visited the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and met Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, Chairman NDMA, with the meeting focused on accessibility, digital inclusion, and making persons with disabilities a priority in disaster preparedness and response. The visit included a tour of the National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC), described as the hub of Pakistan’s proactive approach to disaster preparedness, giving PDA leadership direct exposure to the operational infrastructure NDMA relies on during emergency response situations. Dr Munir briefed Chairman NDMA on PDA’s vision, strategic priorities, and key initiatives for digital transformation and inclusive digital development, while the NDMA Chairman set out his authority’s work to bring the needs and perspectives of persons with disabilities into preparedness, risk communication, emergency response, and resilience-building.
The discussion centred on using digital technology and accessible communication channels so that critical information and public services reach every part of society, particularly vulnerable communities who have historically faced barriers accessing timely disaster information. Pakistan is home to an estimated 14 million people with disabilities, accounting for roughly 6.2 percent of the total population, according to UNDP estimates, with accessibility advocates having long pointed to gaps in public infrastructure, transport, and emergency communication that leave disabled citizens disproportionately exposed during crises. Embedding accessibility considerations directly into NDMA’s digital tools and communication channels addresses a gap that has previously been raised in public discourse around disability rights in Pakistan, where accessible infrastructure has generally lagged behind policy commitments.
The engagement identified five areas for closer institutional collaboration between the two bodies: building accessible disaster and emergency communications, advancing digital accessibility and inclusive technology, expanding public awareness and risk communication, developing technology-enabled preparedness and response, and including persons with disabilities across the full disaster management cycle. This structured framework gives the PDA-NDMA partnership a defined scope rather than a general statement of intent, covering everything from how emergency alerts are delivered to how disabled citizens are factored into response planning from the outset rather than as an afterthought. The collaboration adds disability inclusion to PDA’s growing list of institutional engagements this year, which have also included sessions with the banking sector on WASL and discussions with individual digital banks on data exchange infrastructure.
PDA described a whole-of-society approach, backed by institutions working in step, as how Pakistan builds safer, more accessible, and more resilient communities, framing the NDMA partnership as part of its broader commitment to working with national institutions toward an inclusive digital Pakistan. The practical impact of this engagement will likely depend on how quickly the five identified collaboration areas translate into concrete technical changes within NDMA’s emergency communication and preparedness systems, particularly given that accessibility initiatives in Pakistan have historically been constrained more by implementation gaps than by a lack of stated policy commitment. As PDA continues building out its digital public infrastructure agenda across various government institutions, this partnership with NDMA signals an intent to ensure disability inclusion is treated as a core design consideration rather than a supplementary feature added after core systems are already built.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
